Statement on Deep-Sea Mining

The Responsible Mining Foundation (RMF) supports the calls for a global moratorium on deep-sea mining, in alignment with recommendations by numerous individuals and organisations around the world.

Specifically, RMF supports the application of the precautionary principle and an ecosystem approach to protect the deep sea from irreversible and large-scale harm, and supports a global moratorium on Deep Seabed Mining to allow that:

• rigorous and transparent impact assessments are conducted,
• the environmental, social, cultural and economic risks of deep seabed mining are comprehensively understood, and
• the effective protection of the marine environment can be ensured.